"It's so strange!" said new Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa on first seeing his likeness in wax at Madame Tussauds London.
"Amazing...It's the teeth. The teeth are so accurate," added the stunned actor as he looked at the detail of his waxwork on display.
"It was so weird walking around the corner and then just seeing yourself," said Gatwa, who took selfies with his replica when he first saw it in May.
The Rwandan-born Scottish actor, 31, who shot to fame in the Netflix show Sex Education, plays the latest incarnation and 15th Time Lord in the new and much-loved BBC cult series, which also sees screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies return as showrunner.
"Oh my goodness, I'm taken away. Not just the likeness but the spirit is there. I think it's that smile," said Davies after meeting 'wax' Gatwa on the Doctor Who set at the famous Baker Street attraction.
Gatwa said he wanted fans who visit the set to be "part of the 'Whoniverse'" and feel like "they are the Doctor".
The new figure stands next to a copy of the TARDIS, a time-travelling craft in the shape of a police telephone box that famously looks bigger on the inside than the outside.
The first black actor to play the lead role in Doctor Who, Gatwa began working with Madame Tussauds London's artists in July 2023, attending a sitting and collaborating on the figure's pose and expression.
In May this year at the Doctor Who season one premiere in Los Angeles, Gatwa said the new series felt like "a fresh era" as the British sci-fi television show went global on Walt Disney Co's streaming service Disney+.
Gatwa's wax Doctor opens to the public and 'Whovians' on Friday 19 July at Madame Tussauds London's new Baker Street Studios film and TV zone.
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Source: Reuters
